Where Will the Rest of My TRIP Take Me? by Mekhriyona Ilkhomova

​Hi everyone! My name is Mekhriyona Ilkhomova from Northeast High School. When I found out about TRIP and the opportunity it would give me to get hands-on lab experience and even my own independent lab project, I got really excited. However, as it sank in, I began to get intimidated with this unfamiliar experience that I would have to jump into and do on my own. I decided to apply anyway in order to challenge myself. 

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If there’s anything I’ve learned so far in my life, it is that every single time I ever did something that made me uncomfortable, I would always be successful or learn something really valuable. Never from getting out of my comfort zone did I lose anything, ever. I’ll say this, that dream that you think you are too inferior, too unqualified to chase, that step you’re too afraid to take is what would have pushed it over the edge. That action would have transformed into your passionate, glistening dream.

I’ll tell you a story of a time I experienced this so that perhaps you may relate. There’s a business program at my school called DECA in which we compete with others in roleplays and exams. In 2023, I remember how I paced outside the doorway to the classroom and hesitated to walk into the meeting. I’ll just go tomorrow, I thought, trying to give myself an excuse. I began walking to the door, but something stopped me. I stood with my hands on the doorknob and thought why don’t I just check it out and if I don’t like it, I’ll never come back again. And so, with that, I turned back around. 

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When I went to that meeting, I found out that it was the last day before they had to turn in the names of all the competitors. I remember walking home and my head was hot and throbbing at having to process so much new information and make split second decisions on things I knew nothing about. But I did go back the following days, and it went much better. I became so inspired by the speech of my advisor, Mr. McNear, and decided I was going all in. I studied daily for hours on practice exams, roleplays, and performance indicators. I would spend any ounce of extra time I had to complete a few practice questions. On my first competition, I stood around everyone else with their beautiful blazers and dress pants. Here was a group like I had never seen before. People my age who were professional, mature, and polished. I felt inferior among a group of intelligent people. So, after the competition, you can imagine how utterly stunned I was when I placed first. I genuinely couldn’t believe it when they called my name to the stage nor could I believe the cold, metal trophy I held like a misplaced object in my hands, all the way back home.

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None of this would have happened if I had not done something different that I wasn’t completely comfortable with. Rather, I moved forward to discover and then put my head down and worked. This is indeed a big world, and my goal is to go out and learn as much about it as I can. It can be scary, it can be uncomfortable, and at times it could even bring more harm than good, but ultimately the experience and the self-development along the journey will be far more extraordinary.

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Applying for TRIP gave me that same feeling of self-doubt and discomfort, but learning from my previous experiences, I decided to move forward with it. It was my first day yesterday and I’m absolutely in love. At the beginning, doing all the math was frustrating but Dr. Valdes and Dr. Purdy were right by my side to help me. I moved on to making my fly food with the help of Dr. Austria. I am in love with this program because of their principles. Dr. Austria would not tell me the answer. Instead, she would ask me questions until I figured it out. She was very patient, giving me the space to think critically. As I started to get the hang of things, I found that this was kind of fun. At that moment I thought that I might have just finally found it— the thing I am passionate about. I won’t speak too soon though. What I will say is that just on the first day, I can tell my research and experimentation in this program will help me learn and develop tremendously. For now, I’ll put my best effort in and see where the rest of my TRIP takes me.

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​This is indeed a big world, and my goal is to go out and learn as much about it as I can. It can be scary, it can be uncomfortable, and at times it could even bring more harm than good, but ultimately the experience and the self-development along the journey will be far more extraordinary.